Yeah Lichaj not being called in is ridiculous. I figured the lineup would be the same as the Mexico game, so its cool that Gatt is called in! (I guess that’s just bc Landon is injured). A shame Bradley is out- these are two games you can’t mess around with.

Lambert, Lichaj’s manager, is known to be very conservative. Lichaj needs to win him over now. Lichaj has so far failed to convince O’Neill, Houllier, and McLeish that he is full time material. They and Lambert aren’t all stupid nor are they all rabid anti americans.

You only get so many chances to convince people you are starter material before they label you a utility, part time guy and/or expendable (see Adu, Freddy). US fans think highly of Lichaj but the perception of the guys who will pay him to play is what matters long term.

My guess is Lichaj is fighting for his future at Villa. The Guardian ranked his work today as second lowest of all the Villa players. One of the first things Lambert did was buy a fullback, Lownton. Did you think Eric did not notice? He should stay home and take care of business or Lambert will bring in another fullback in the next transfer window.

What do you mean when you say Gatt is not a right back? About year and a half ago people were calling Bradley an idiot for considering deploying Edu at CB saying ”Mo is not a center back”. Now, after one game, a lot of those people are penciling Mo in at center back for the 2014 WC.

The first time I saw Gatt play for Molde he played there and has done a creditable job. While I don’t see him as the right back full time for the USMNT, he can certainly be listed on a depth chart as a backup or emergency right back.

JGD did mention the word “cover”.

Versatility is a deal breaker for international team selection. That 23 man World Cup tournament roster gets thin very quickly with one or two injuries or suspensions.

The mid better slow down the runners because Jamaica will fly by our CBs. I’m concerned if its Boca, Goodson Dolo,Johnson, only Johnson has close down speed, althouugh the others have good positional sense, Jamaica will be off to the races if we try a hi-line with tthat defensive make-up. Better if its Cameron as CB paired with Boca, with Edu as the dogger, Beckerman is too slow for those crazy bounces,deflections mishaps that occur in the last 3rd with a team like Jamaica.
anyway that’s my meanderings right now.

Great to see Gatt invited…I’m also bummed not to see Lichaj. Seems like JK is using this roster to also check the depth and pecking order of the CBs… primarily Cameron and Mo versus the older candidates. I’m also curious to see if Jozy can improve his play with the nats…the goals for his club are great, but it has to start translating to better continuity with his teammates and more goal scoring opportunities with the nats…having to compete with Boyd should get his attention.

The away game will be tough, I think we’re going to struggle to create chances in midfield against a very determined physical side with pace…there will be a ton of pressure on Torres, or whomever is in that distributing ACM role, to maintain possession and create…I’d rather see us go 4-4-2 and attack on the flanks…hopefully Shea is tucked in on the left allowing Johnson to get up the line and Gatt burns up the right side.

I am perturbed also that lichaj is not in the roster, but I think klinsi has a good excuse if this is his excuse….

the competition for fullback at aston villa seems to be very intense right now. Lichaj started his first league game today after coming in as a sub last week. Taking Lichaj out for a week and a half right when he seems to have proven himself may be a bad move for his career. Lichaj will be far more of value to the usa if he can nail down a starting job now. I’m not saying I agree, I’m just saying that if that is Klinsman’s thinking then I understand.

Outside of lichaj I think the biggest snubs are Pontius and Kljestan… Both bradley and donovan are not coming in and those guys are not called up… Pontius still has a chance I think later on if he can show well in the next month before the mls playoffs

Pretty embarrassing for Tim Ream not to get called up when his club said he would… opps

Bolton had delusions of grandeur if they thought Tim Ream would be called up. Either that or US Soccer let one slip.

Odd not to see Lichaj and Kljestan given how effective they were against Jamaica last summer. Maybe JK has made a positive decision not to fight the last war? Or maybe he hasn’t actually watched the tape?

Ream was on the larger FIFA roster meaning he was on the initial list of people that might get a call. It lets clubs know who are getting a close look for a potential call up and keeps there from being any big surprise so the clubs can always let the coach know why they might prefer not to have him released for some reason or plan for a potential call….he just was not included on the smaller 20-some roster for the final pick.

Made me sad reading it! I think they’re still putting out a three-man backline, so a one-striker formation would probably be the way to go. I’d expect Torres on the left and Herc on the right, with Jones, Edu, and Beckerman piled up in central midfield. But who knows.

Boyd probably deserves the start. 4 goals in 6 appearances. Man can he finish. He isn’t flashy but he is relentless. I love it. In fairness Jozy’s 4 goals aren’t bad either. Though apparently Herc is number 1 on the depth chart. I just think it would be insane to start him over Boyd/Jozy in these two games (they are pretty important).

Not sure Herc fits well in the 2 band of a 4-3-2-1. Seems like he is best making runs off of the back 4. Moving him further away from goal seems to emphasize the dribbling and driving aspects of attack.

I don’t like a lot of this roster, but then I thought about it, and the truth is: I don’t like a lot of this player pool! I think we forget how shallow the player pool is. I would argue that Bradley is the most important player on the squad as the only high quality MF-passing option, and he’s not on the roster. Dempsey a close second as the only high quality creative player in the final 3rd, and he hasn’t played a competitive match since the Guatemala game in June. Landon has been fairly mediocre and I don’t expect that to change dramatically any time soon. His absence isn’t as worrisome. But, w/ the possible exception of Fabian Johnson, there is a big drop in quality after those 3. At least IMO.

Names that probably should have been on the team: Lichaj, Kljestan, Seb Hines…but who else? And I don’t think you can gripe too much about Lichaj given the fact that he is still inconsistent at AV. Sacha is puzzling for all of the reasons we already know about. But his situation is not unique to International soccer. There is always at least one player out of favor. At some point Jurgen might be forced to call in Seb, but at this point I think he is a little sensitive to the whole dual-nationality thing. Especially after the Chandler debacle.

Honestly: this game worries me. Jamaica finally has some talent/technique to couple with the explosive athleticism that has always been part of their squad. They are on the rise. And the US? Well, as I’ve said before, this a really weak player pool. What is most worrisome is that while our older players are declining, our younger players aren’t really stepping up – outside of Boyd. Torres, Shea, Jozy – but also guys like Agudelo, Adu (i.e guys you want to see make the team but their current play at the club level doesn’t allow for it). Jamaica is going to let us play our possession game and counter the shit out of us when we (I’m envisioning Jones being the culprit here) misplay balls and lose possession. We just need to hope our defense holds up and the good Brek Shea, Jermaine Jones, Jose Torres show up to play on the offensive end.

As for general thoughts:

The US midfield – in the short term – is bad. Personally, despite what I just wrote above, I’m over the Jose Torres experiment. JK likes him and the media hypes him up, but he doesn’t do it for me. When given time and space he looks great bc he has technique, but he disappears against good opposition. The problem is, outside of Torres there is literally no one in this roster’s MF pool who has skill on the ball and can play, at least in theory, the style Jurgen wants. Corona maybe, but he’s entirely unproven. Personally, I think Beckerman and Zusi’s inclusion is the biggest red alert over the current depth/quality of the US MF depth. They are one dimensional players, JK’s scheme requires more than that. Williams is a quality defensive player and would probably do well in the holding role, but he can’t cut it out on the wing which is where JK has been playing him. And Jones is a poor-man’s Steven Gerrard. And as a Liverpool fan, I am referencing the 2012 Steven Gerrard. The guy who might be a marginal starter on many Champions League clubs at his current age, but can every once in awhile blow you away with a thread the needle pass, a pin point cross or a booming shot. Jones is a “poor mans” version of that. But he also (like the 2012 Gerrard) turns the ball over in terrible spots. While we could do far worse than Jones – he just doesn’t play possession style well enough (again, like 2012 SG). We need another option and other than Bradley, I have no idea who that will be. Lastly, on the wings, its a real shame Josh Gatt is out bc I would have loved to see what he can do to give the team some width. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think its totally appropriate for Jurgen to throw some of these kids into the fire and see what they can do. Gatt, Gyau, whoever. Lets see what we’ve got. Brazil is less than two years away.

If you feel inclined to look on the bright side, think of it this way: what does it say about the present state of the player pool that we could lose two of our top three players, and probably not have the third available to start, and not have it be a total catastrophe?

BTW: I don’t like Torres either, but this is the kind of game where he can be effective. Jamaica’s three-in-the-back-plus wingbacks, direct style leaves a ton of room in the middle of the park. Last go ’round the US was getting 4-vs-2 and even 5-vs-2 in that area of the pitch. So Torres, if he plays, will get time on the ball, which is the one thing he really needs to be successful.

I agree, I just think he is a short-term solution at best. I hate knocking our guys, I really do. I just don’t think Torres has ever done enough to warrant starting minutes on the national team. As someone pointed out on Twitter, its hard to understand why Jurgen talks about how important the Champions League experience is for our players – but then he won’t call in the only player in our pool that is playing CL football. Now I actually think that tactically, it makes sense that JK hasn’t called Sacha in. But you look at how thin our midfield is overall and its really hard to find a reason why the guy isn’t even on the bench.

What it comes to player selection it seems like a lot of US fans take quotes from the manager and come up with a checklist. In this system the players who check off the most boxes are the ones who get called up. A lot of US fans also seem to have a fantasy league mindset and seem to think the key to success is pick the 11 guys who tick off the most boxes. The focus is more on individuals as opposed to the team.

I doubt this is how it actually works with the USMNT or any sports team for that matter. When JK spoke about Champions League football I doubt he intended it to mean that playing CL football granted you an automatic call up.

I have always liked Sacha but I’ve never found him entirely convincing in a US shirt regardless of who was managing. Of course,I’m sure if he were called up he would do fine job. JK has made it very, very clear that the reason he has not called Sacha is he thinks the US has better players than Sacha at his position. This season it seems Sacha is playing more of an attacking role so it remains to be seen if that makes a difference vis a vis the USMNT.

Still It should be clear by now to everyone that Sacha is one of a number of “fall back plan” guys.

At any rate I see no problem with JK’s position on the man. As I see it Sacha is pretty much a known quantity and if the need arises he can be slotted into the team in short order without a lot of fuss.

There are a lot of other players with possibly more upside who need to be tried out. And we know Sacha is dying for a shot so he is always motivated and of course he is cap tied so the USMNT has him in a box. It’s not like he can go off and play for Greece.

Agree that Bradley, Dempsey, and maybe Johnson are a class (or two or three) above the rest of the player pool.

Agree that Lichaj and Klejstan deserve looks. At this point, though, I recognize that JK is placing at least some emphasis on team/system cohesion and thus that he’s not going to call in someone for qualifiers if they haven’t been to a single camp yet.

Partially agree that most younger players haven’t had breakthrough leaps in their games yet to supplant declining vets. CB is probably the biggest need in this regard. But Jozy has been way more confident since moving to AZ, even if his nat team play hasn’t been standout. And we’ve had permanent infusions of talent (young and mid-career) at some positions, flashes of promise at others, and there’s still 2 years left in this cycle for hopefully a breakthrough or two to happen. Most youngsters won’t pan out, but a few should.

Finally, I couldn’t agree more about Jones and also about our midfield depth. Jones’ play is extremely erratic and his occasional moments of lucidity don’t make up for his more frequent gaffes. The best that can be said for him is that, after Bradley, he’s more or less the best we’ve got. Which is precisely why our midfield depth, heralded by many less than two years ago as a strength, is a little unsettling now. It’s beyond a pipe dream at this point, but oh how I miss fantasizing about an in form and uninjured Stuart Holden playing alongside Bradley.

Wow, you beat Mexico in Azteca with a makeshift squad and a few weeks later US fans are ready to commit hara kiri , though probably not in the ceremonially correct way, because they fear Jamaica is going bolt right past our slow footed defense.

The result in Mexico could’ve been something else without Howard saves & Chicarito misses, plus its was a friendly. Now the upcoming Jamaica games are WQCs so more anxiety exhibited by fans. JKs’ questionable roster selections which worked out in Mexico might not work out in Jamaica. And maybe they will but most fans or should I say I, still have the emotional scars from prior US games so we fear the worse. It will takes years of successes to undo or Chicago Cub Fan like fear of certain failure, ironically Bunker Bob in his 1st WCQ path gave us some ugly stability. There’s Russians who will state at least we had jobs with the communists and food didnt cost so much.
So as a mantra, lets all say “Clint will bring us through, Clint will bring us through”, to calm ourselves. I picked that one up from a Fulham fan, don’t know who they are praying to now.
Maybe we can get Boyd or Heculez to step up and carry the team on their shoulders, will be interesting to see who steps up though. My bet is on Jermaine Jones. But I can guarranttee it will be an emotional rollercoaster ride this weekend without mind altering substances or tantric yoga,

This is what is great about soccer. It’s like playing guitar. It is fairly easy to get to where you are okay, to where you can make an acceptable noise. But getting from there to where you are really good is a lot harder than it looks.

There are no guarantees. Even with overwhelming superiority on paper, the US can very easily lose to Jamaica. What should be enjoyable to everyone is JK is likely to come up with some unlikely looking combination. Even if we lose look at the bright side. At least we’ll have a new issue/player to bitch about.

All this unpredictability is what makes it fun and you should enjoy that part of it.

Ah, the unpredictability of it, Yes I concur. I will go bitching and screaming the whole way but its the road to growth and if it doesnt work out then we can call it an “AFGO” = Another Fucking Growth Opportunity”.
BYW when I play guitar I use distortion pedal and crank out angry Richard Hell & the Voidoid’s angst, to hide the lack of virtousity, you shoud try it very cathartic!

Haha, yeah, that’s the only way I survived the BB years without going stark raving mad…you can go Drop D and add a slide – Thunderous. Regarding JK’s game day player selection, I enjoy the creativity….it’s nearly impossible to predict his line ups…so far so good, i love the idea of getting Mo out of the Dmid mix and into the back line…I wouldn’t mind doing the same thing with Williams.

Union… I agree with the beginning of your post about the player pool. I noticed something just a week ago from the Match Facts after beating Mexico. JK was asked about the developming style of play and his first comment was this: “Our style will evolve over time and that probably is between two World Cup cycles. The kind that is developed through your players, through the players that add different elements in the game.”

So that tells me what I was wondering and similar to what you posted… player pool right now is not what it can be in 3-5 years. I’ve looked at the current pool of players we’ve seen under JK and there are about 18 (including Ream, Hamid, and Omar Gonzalez) that could still be part of this team come WC 2018 (I calculated only 2 would be 33 and 34 (Cameron/Guzan). So you are talking 17-18 players not including youth players like Luis Gil, Agudelo, Diskerrud, Pelosi, and others that will only get better. I know we all have our favorites but last I checked… we beat Italy without Donovan, Mexico without Dempsey and for the most part Donovan.

I could say I don’t like this roster but I could probably say the same thing about the Italy and Mexico rosters. In JK, I trust.

Agreed and listen, I’m a huge JK fan. My central point was (which got lost in my many secondary points), while this roster is imperfect, its probably the best JK can do given the player pool. I don’t have a huge problem with Sacha not being given a look, every international manager seems to have that “one player” they rate much lower than the media/fan base.

I’m all for JK, I just have a feeling that WCQ is going to be a bumpier road than we expect. CONCACAF has gotten a lot better in the last 4 years and it will show.

Not just media and the fan base, though. It’s also the transfer market. According to the UEFA club rankings, there are exactly three Americans (plus Friedel) who play for better clubs than Kljestan. He has fought his way into one of the fifty best teams in the world a couple of times now. Meanwhile the guy keeping him off the team is a decent player for a middling club in Mexico.

Not too concerned about the 4 gk. This is basically the only time until january to get guys in for an extended camp. Shame about the injuries to bradley, castillo, donovan, and gatt. would have loved to see gatt and if he has the chops for the next level. also wanted to see castillo again, as i thought he was excellent against mexico. lichaj and kljestan are curious ommissions, but they have a plan at US soccer, lets just hope it works.

For the most part I like the roster. For people that are concerned about Jamaica’s speed. Just look at the Gold Cup result. You control the middle of the field, and pass the ball around in a possession style then Jamaica’s speed is nullified. Also Fabian Johnson can take care of his side, and Cameron has more than enough speed to cover Jamiac’s srtrikers. personally I have a feeling you will see Williams at RM again to help Dolo out with defending.

this is a good line up…my only quibble is that instead of Edu, I would potentially put Williams in there…it is his natural position. Gatt would go on the right wing, but with his injury I think dempsey will slot in there with Torres in the middle feeding Altidore.

I think we’ll see Gomez for Williams on the RW, or possibly Boyd in the lineup somewhere because he is on fire right now. I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Zusi at CAM with Dempsey on the left, but that would be risky.

I feel that many of you are missing the point of this team. Its qualifying and Klinsmann is going with the group that he knows best. If you start looking at the group that he has called up almost every single player can be an interchangeable part on the field. Johnson can play left, right back or push into the midfield, Cameron can be the athletic center back yet still play defensive midfield, Dempsey you can place just about anywhere, Danny Williams may play the destroyer role in the midfield finally, and for al the John Spector comments he is our best utility man. While the US will play very narrow , it plays to Klinsmann’s goal that we saw in France in the US playing group defense. Klinsmann wants he starters to be able to play strong defense and this group and the US needs that to get points at away. Bringing in a Gatt or Corona is just to give these players an idea of being two way players. I feel after we qualify the US Strategy will be to open up the field but first the players must work on the foundational work of playing collective defense and moving as a group into the defensive third.

Everything that I’ve read seems to indicate that it will be hit and miss as to whether it will be available by then based on where you live. It doesn’t seem like it is a uniform rollout across Comcast because of the way that the company is broken up into regions. I’ve been checking to see if a channel has appeared on my lineup near FSC/GolTV or similar Spanish channels and so far nothing (I’m in North Jersey). The Olympic Soccer channel for example showed up about a week to a week and a half early on my cable box.

Comcast has signed a deal with beIN SPORT and we will soon be able to offer more European soccer to XFINITY customers. We will be launching the Spanish feed to both MultiLatino and Sports Entertainment packages in the majority of our areas coming early in September. The English-language version will be added to select lineups at a later date.

We regularly examine our channel lineups and talk with a wide range of programmers to ensure that we are bringing the content and programming that our customers want the most.

Just as a general update:

The Spanish standard definition version of beIN Sports is expected to be added to MultiLatino and Sports Entertainment Package channel lineups on the following dates and in the following general locations:

Just confirmed that it is the spanish language bein that is going to be added this week. Not only that but the spanish channel is not going to show the US/Jamaica game live.

Live coverage of the USA/Jamaica World Cup Qualifier game on Friday is not scheduled to be available live on the Spanish-language version of beIN that Comcast is scheduled to launch starting this week.

Below is the Word Cup Qualifying lineup for Friday, September 7 into Saturday, September 8 that is scheduled on beIN Sport en Espanol. (Times listed are ET)

Epic fail by bein. This entire launch has been a joke. With their money the move should have been to buy GolTV which is already on most cable/satellite lineups. Bein even hired their best on air talent.

To be fair- for directv once they put it on their satellite then its available to everyone simultaneously. There are far more logistics issues when you are counting on a local network of copper cables to deliver content.

With D-Will playing more of a holding role and Jones going forward some. Bring in Boyd at some point. I doubt Dempsey will be able to go the entire match, and I am not sure who would be a good sub for him. Bring in Edu and move Jones up, or try Corona there maybe? I have seen enough of Torres playing CAM, he’s just not going to put a stamp on anything against a quality opponent.

He’s akin to a blocking tight end running a route across the middle. Yes, he’s there, and he’s doing his duty, and he might even catch a ball that’s thrown at his chest, but he’s not a threat, and can probably be ignored by the other team because they know he’s not going to beat them.